Box Score HAMMOND, La. – No. 3-ranked LSU scored four runs in a wild sixth inning Thursday at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field to defeat Southeastern Louisiana, 7-3, in front of a stadium-record crowd of 3,747.
For the first five innings, starting pitchers Cody Glenn (1-0) and
Sean Kennel (0-1) were locked into a 2-2 pitcher's duel.
Southeastern (2-2) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first.
Jacob Williams and
Jesse Buratt knocked back-to-back singles to open the bottom of the first for the Lions. After a sacrifice bunt by
Jameson Fisher, right fielder
Andrew Godbold lined a single up the middle to score Williams.
LSU (4-0) answered with a pair of runs in the top of the second. Chris Chinea doubled to left with one out and scored on Tyler Moore's two-out double to right-center. Jared Foster plated Moore with a single to left.
Kennel and Glenn settled in, holding the bats at bay over the next few innings. Following a leadoff single in the third, Kennel retired the next nine batters he faced.
The Lions tied the game, 2-2, in the fifth.
Gabe Woods led off with a single up the middle, his second hit of the game, and moved up to second on a passed by Chinea, the LSU catcher. With one out, Williams produced his second single of the contest to drive in Woods.
As was the case earlier in the game, LSU responded immediately. Mark Laird drew a walk, the first issued by Kennel, to lead off the top of the sixth. Ahead in the count, 1-2, Kennel plunked Alex Bregman to put a pair on base. Connor Hale followed with a single up the middle to load the bases.
Then, things got strange.
Kennel uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Laird to score from third. Fisher chased the ball down at the backstop, but did not have a play. Believing he had time, Fisher tossed the wet ball out of play. Bregman then scored from third, and Hale moved over to take his place, sparking a lengthy discussion at the plate.
When the dust settled, Kennel rebounded to retire the next two hitters, but the Tigers would eventually score four runs in the innings for a 6-2 lead.
Southeastern pushed across its final run in the bottom of the sixth. Fisher, the last batter Glenn faced, was hit by a pitch. Reliever Nate Fury walked Godbold, the first hitter he faced, before
Kevin Carr laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position.
With two outs,
Brett Hoffman chopped a grounder to Bregman at short, but a high throw allowed Hoffman to reach and Fisher to score.
Glenn picked up the win and Kennel, in his season debut, was saddled with the loss.
Southeastern returns to action Friday at 1 p.m. against George Washington, opening a three-game series with the Colonials.
LSU 7, Southeastern La. 3
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LSU........................... 020 004 001 - 7 10 1 (4-0)
Southeastern La..... 100 011 000 - 3 8 2 (2-2)
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Pitchers: LSU - Cody Glenn; Nate Fury (6); Parker Bugg (7); Joe Broussard (8); Kurt McCune (9) and Chris Chinea. Southeastern La. - Kennel, Sean; Pittari, Matt(6); Hills, Dylan (7); Riddell, Logan (9) and Fisher, Jameson.
Win-Cody Glenn (1-0) Loss-Kennel, Sean (0-1) T-2:48 A-3747
Weather: 72, partly cloudy, SSE 9 mph
Glenn faced 1 batter in the 6th.
